2.5 stars. This book has gotten a lot of critical attention, so maybe I just didn't get it, but I felt like the convoluted plot just kept going down blind alleys -- every time I there was a big reveal that was going to drive the plot, the story shifted gears, or into another character's perspective, and it went nowhere. There were also so many characters that I had trouble getting that invested in anyone. The setting in Victorian-era England provided an interesting backdrop for the themes of conflict between science and superstition/religion, at a time when the world was certainly changing in that regard, but I didn't find it satisfying enough to recommend. Even the title character, the Essex Serpent himself, is a let-down.